Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 2 Corinthians 3:17
The other day Henry sent an email saying, "Your views concerning Christ's
Kingdom are in error." Then he explained that Satan is controlling the world
system for this age. When Christ returns, He will set up His Kingdom and true
peace will reign. "We are not there yet, Paul."
Like Henry, most of us have been lied to about the status of the Kingdom of
Heaven. We have been told that the Kingdom of Heaven is a fantasy of the future,
in the "sweet by and by."
Meanwhile, unscrupulous men are enslaving us to the world system. This
slavery is a cold, grim reality for almost everyone. Who can take much thought
about some future Kingdom when the present burdens of this world press so
heavily upon us?
The unscrupulous villains who are shutting men out of the Kingdom are the
same ones who despised the counsel of God in Jesus' day (Luke 7:30).
Woe to you scribes and Pharisees! For two thousand years you've barred the
Kingdom of Heaven from the lambs of God. All that has changed is your name. Oh
yes, now we call you attorneys and pastors. But your job is the same. You parade
around in robes of light, deceiving the people and being deceived (2 Timothy
3:13).
You secular preachers bar the doors of Heaven by postponing the Kingdom.
Meanwhile, you lawyers stack up law upon law to force men to worship and pay
homage to your beastly system.
Watch Out for the Detours
What are we to do? The path before us is strewn with half-truths and
deceptions. The Kingdom of Heaven is the crucial starting point in this race for
the incorruptible crown. Jesus tells us that the number one priority in our
lives is to seek the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 6:33).
The term "Kingdom of Heaven" or "Kingdom of God" is mentioned over 100 times
in the New Testament alone. Yet most clergymen today don't even talk about the
Kingdom, much less understand it. They dismiss it by saying we are in the
"Church age." We must wait for Christ to return and set up His Kingdom.
Uh-Oh! Someone is trying to detour us. Whether they realize it or not,
pointing us toward a future kingdom leads us off the narrow path and out for a
snooze. As we slumber, we forget about pursuing our number one priority.
If these religious soothsayers don't lull us to sleep, there are other
pitfalls. As you walk along the highway, you'll see poor, struggling souls in
the ditch. They all have one thing in common. They think the "experts in the
law" have the answers to their problems. How wrong they are!
They promise them liberty, and are themselves the bond-servants of
corruption. For of whomsoever a man is overcome, unto the same is he in
bondage.2 Peter 2:19
If you examine the words of Jesus and the acts of His countrymen, they prove
beyond a shadow of a doubt that Christ's Kingdom is here today.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Don't take the detours. Stay on that strait and
narrow path and prove all things. Race for that incorruptible crown. Though the
way be lonely and painful, the rewards are great. You are receiving a Kingdom
that cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:28). It's not just for the hereafter, but for
today, tomorrow and forever.
Here or Hereafter?
We're not talking about some paradise after the graveyard. The Kingdom of
Heaven is not a place or location. It is not somewhere we run to. We can't drive
there. It is something spiritual.
The Kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21). It is God's government
ruling your heart and mind.
Inside you is a law that governs your actions. Either you are governed by
Satan or you are governed by Christ. Who has laid claim on you here and now? Who
owns you? Whom do you fear? Whom do you obey?
If you haven't found the Kingdom of God here and now, you will never find it
in the hereafter.
Did Jesus Fail?
What is the current status of the Kingdom of Heaven? Why isn't anyone talking
about it?
Apparently many religions today think that Jesus failed. He lost the race.
His mission was aborted because the Jews did not receive Him. They rejected Him
so He withdrew His Kingdom. They say He took it away.
But someday, many long days from now, Christ will come back and perform what
He failed to do when He walked the earth. But does this make any sense? Is this
truly what the Bible teaches?
Let's examine the scriptures to see if this "Kingdom of Heaven" truly exists.
Did it really happen? Is there a series of events that took place that proves
the Kingdom is actually here?
Handing Over the Kingdom
Throughout the gospels, there are many instances of Jesus speaking in
parables to describe the nature and character of His Kingdom. Eventually Jesus
quits talking in parables and speaks plainly.
At the Last Supper just prior to His crucifixion, Jesus speaks candidly. He
is handing over His Kingdom to the disciples. His words to the apostles form His
Last Will and Testament.
At Luke 22:24, we find His faithful ones arguing about who is going to be the
top dog in this new government.
Jesus interrupts their quarreling. He has a new kind of government in mind.
In the governments of the world, those with the most power dominate the
others."But ye shall not be so" (Luke 22:26). Those who desire the top seats in
His government are to be like those who serve.
Then he hands His Kingdom over to the apostles:
And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my father hath appointed to me: that
ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on seats, and judge the
twelve tribes of Israel. Luke 22:29-30
Earlier, Jesus had given the keys of the Kingdom to Peter (Matthew 16:19) and
now He is formally handing over the Kingdom itself to the apostles. Now they
have both the keys and the "house."
It seems clear when these passages are read that Jesus has delegated His
Father's Kingdom to His faithful apostles. But then along come the theologians
that want to cut up and dissect the plain word of God.
The theologians argue, "Jesus wasn't making that claim. The Kingdom is still
coming - sometime in the future."
Before we look at the passage used to justify a future Kingdom, let's see
what passages substantiate the handing over of the Kingdom.
Kingdom Arrives
Let's go back a little in Luke. At Chapter 22, verse 14, Jesus is sitting
down at the Last Supper with the twelve apostles and He is saying unto them:
I have inwardly desired to eat this Easter lamb with you before that I
suffer. For I say unto you: henceforth, I will not eat of it anymore, UNTIL IT
BE FULFILLED IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said. Take this, and divide it
among you. For I say unto you: I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, UNTIL
THE KINGDOM OF GOD BE COME. Luke 22:15-18.
Here Jesus states that the fulfillment of the Kingdom is coming. The Kingdom
is at hand, but Jesus still has a few things to accomplish before He completes
His mission. He has to fulfill the Scriptures by being beaten, led like a lamb
to the slaughter, and after dying, rise again.
When these events take place, then the Scriptures regarding the Kingdom are
fulfilled. The Kingdom has arrived. Jesus says he will not eat or drink anymore
until the Kingdom comes. Now let's search the scriptures to see if Jesus ever
does eat or drink again with the apostles.
Go to Acts, Chapter 10, verses 39-41. We are going to be looking at a
"flashback." In these verses the apostles are talking about an earlier event,
after Jesus rose from the dead, but before He ascended into the clouds. Peter
says:
And we are witnesses . . . which ate and drank with him, after he arose
from death. Acts 10:39, 41
Here we see Jesus' prediction at the Last Supper being fulfilled. Jesus said
that the kingdom will come when He eats and drinks again with His apostles (Luke
22:16,18). Now at Acts Chapter 10, the apostles are bearing witness that they
did eat and drink with Jesus.
From these events, it is clear that Jesus conferred the Kingdom upon the
apostles and that they bore witness that the Kingdom truly arrived.
Let's look again at what Jesus was actually doing. The first event is Jesus
telling the apostles at the Last Supper, "The Kingdom is right around the
corner. I'm going to go die, and after I am raised up, the Kingdom will be
fulfilled. Today I'm eating this Last Supper with you. When I eat and drink with
you again, the Kingdom will be fulfilled" (Luke 22:16,18).
Then Christ explains the character of His government and bestows His Father's
Kingdom upon them (Luke 22:29). Finally, the apostles testify that they did
indeed eat and drink with Jesus after He rose from the dead. This event fulfills
Christ's prediction that when He eats and drinks again it will be when the
kingdom of God is fulfilled (Acts 10:39-41).
This is the Good News. The evidence is in. These are not parables. This is
clear speech. The Kingdom is here. We have that same Kingdom and it is
everlasting. If it happened 2,000 years ago, it has to be here now, too. It is a
Kingdom without end and has never vanished.
Restoring the Kingdom to Israel
"I can totally wipe out your theory on the Kingdom of Heaven." Someone was
waving a scripture in my face. "Look, this proves the Kingdom has not arrived
yet."
"Hang on,” I said. “This is something we'll need to examine." Let's go to
that controversial passage in Acts, Chapter 1.
Verses 1 through 3 say that Jesus showed himself alive after his passion by
many indisputable proofs. He was seen of the apostles for forty days, while
speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. During these forty
days, Jesus also ate and drank with the apostles as Peter stated later in Acts
10:39-41.
But then comes verse 6. This is the verse that is supposed to prove that the
Kingdom of Heaven is in the future.
The apostles come together with Jesus and asked:
Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? Acts 1:6
How is Jesus going to respond? Is He going to restore the Kingdom to Israel?
And he said unto them: It is not for you to know the times, or the seasons
which the father hath put in his own power: but ye shall receive power of the
holy ghost which shall come on you. And ye shall be witnesses unto me in
Jerusalem, and in all Jewry and in Samaria, and even unto the world’s end. Acts
1:7-8
Many Bible commentaries use this verse to point to a "future kingdom" and do
not acknowledge that it is a current and present reality. But did you hear
Christ say anything about the Kingdom of Heaven not being here yet?
I don’t see where He denies that the Kingdom has arrived. In fact, He tells
them about the government responsibilities they will be having and the
additional power they will soon be receiving when the Holy Ghost comes upon
them.
What He doesn’t tell them is the time when their mission will be
accomplished. “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the
Father hath put in his own power."
This is a generic statement. Basically, the Father is going to do whatever He
is going to do. Christ is reigning until he has put all enemies under His feet
(1 Corinthians 15:25). It is God's business when these things are going to take
place.
Then He gives the apostles their job: "You are going to receive power when
the Holy Ghost comes upon you, and you are going to be my representative all
over the earth” (See Acts 1:8).
In the next chapter of Acts, the apostles truly were filled with the Holy
Ghost as Jesus promised “and began to speak with other tongues, even as the
spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4).
Another way to look at these verses is that the apostles are Israel. The
nation of Israel is made up of those who have the faith of Abraham. The apostles
are the beginning. They are in the Kingdom. It has arrived. And the question
they are asking is, "When is the whole nation of Israel going to be complete?"
And Jesus says, "That is not for you to determine. You've got a job to do.
You're already in the Kingdom. Now go forth and preach the Good News. Just
because the Kingdom is as tiny as a mustard seed, it still exists. As you
continue getting the Word out, the Kingdom will grow.”
When Will America Be Restored?
It is similar to someone asking, “When is America going to turn back to God?”
We tell him, "That is not for us to know. Only the Father knows. But right now
we have a job to do. There are people that need to hear the Truth. Go out there
and start preaching."
Let's say we have a desert that is all sand. Somehow we figure out a way to
take a tree and plant it in the sand. We get one tree planted and it starts
growing. Then we put another tree in, then a third tree. Soon we've planted a
hundred trees. Then someone comes along and asks, "When is this desert going to
be converted into a forest?"
All we can say is, "That is the Father's business, but we've got work to do."
We just keep planting those trees. And in the Father's time, He empowers the
whole place to be a forest of trees. Then the job is finished and the desert is
now a forest.
Isn't that what is happening at Acts 1:8? The apostles were asking the
question, "When are we going to be finished? When is this whole place going to
be converted over to God?" But the answer is in the Lord's hands and is not for
us to know.
Right now the Kingdom is small, but it is growing. It is like the tiny
mustard seed which is the least of all seeds. But when it is grown, it is the
greatest among herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and
lodge in its branches (Matthew 13:31, 32).
Jesus is saying to His disciples, "You are going to be endowed with power.
You have to start somewhere. You are the Kingdom of Heaven. It is your business.
Get going men. Fill the whole earth with the Kingdom of Heaven."
Wicked Husbandmen
Today men are withholding the Kingdom because they want to rule over you.
They don't want you to have the godly counsel of the Holy Spirit. They want
their experts - lawyers, pastors, bureaucrats, to show you the way. These people
are shutting up the Kingdom while they devour widows' houses, make a pretense
with long prayer, and train up converts that are twice the child of hell as
themselves (Matthew 23:13-15).
Jesus tells a parable against these Wicked Husbandmen who try to lock up the
Kingdom (Matthew 21:33-44). A householder plants a vineyard, digs a winepress
and builds a tower. Then he rents out the land to husbandmen and goes away to a
distant country.
When harvest time is near, he sends his servants to the husbandmen to receive
the fruit. But the husbandmen beat one servant, kill another, and stone a third.
Finally, the householder sends his son, saying, "They will fear my son." But
when the husbandmen see the son they say among themselves, "This is the heir:
come, let us kill him, and let us take his inheritance for ourselves."
Then they catch him and throw him out of the vineyard and slay him. When the
lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do unto those husbandmen? “He will
cruelly destroy those evil persons, and will let (rent) out his vineyard unto
other husbandmen which shall deliver him the fruit at times convenient.”
Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people:
Did ye never read in the scriptures? The stone which the builders refused
the same is set in the principal part of the corner: this was the lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
Therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and
shall be given to the gentiles, which shall bring forth the fruits of it. And
whosoever shall fall on this stone, he shall be broken, but on whosoever it
shall fall upon, it will grind him to powder.
And when the chief priests and Pharisees heard these similitudes, they
perceived that he spoke of them. And they went about to lay hands on him, but
they feared the people, because they took him as a prophet.
Matthew 21:42-46
This parable shows that the Kingdom was going to be taken away from the chief
priests and Pharisees because they rejected God's Son. And that's what happened.
Kingdom Given to New Nation
Apostle Peter makes a full parallel to the parable of the Wicked Husbandman.
During Peter's generation the Kingdom of God was taken from the Wicked
Husbandman. A new, holy nation was born with Christ as King.
Peter declares that those who believe on the Son will not be confused. But to
the disobedient who reject Christ as the chief cornerstone, He will be a
stumbling stone and a rock of offense:
Wherefore it is contained in the scripture: Behold I put in Sion a head
cornerstone, elect and precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be
ashamed.
Unto you therefore which believe, he is precious: but unto them which
believe not, the stone which the builders refused the same is made the head
stone in the corner, and a stone to stumble at, and a rock to offend them which
stumble at the word, and believe not that whereon they were set. 1 Peter 2:6-8
At verse 9, Peter is convincing the people that the Kingdom has come to this
generation. "We have a new government. It's in place now."
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an HOLY NATION, and a
peculiar people, that ye should show the virtues of him that called you out of
darkness into his marvelous light which in time past were not a people, yet are
now the people of God: which were not under mercy but now have obtained mercy. 1
Peter 2:9-10
Jesus Did Not Change His Mind
Christ did not "take back" His Kingdom as some say. When Jesus stood before
Pilate, He said His purpose was to be a King and bring His Kingdom. (See John
18:37).
Christ finished His work on the cross. That is what Pilate's role was - to
make sure Jesus got His ticket to the cross. Pilate thought he was doing his own
work, but no, God had plans for Pilate. Pilate sent Christ to the cross where He
finished His work and the Kingdom came (Acts 2:23).
When Jesus perceived that all things were performed: that the scripture
might be fulfilled, he said: I thirst. . . As soon as Jesus had received of the
vinegar, he said: It is finished, and bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
John 19:28,30.
What else could He say? He had accomplished what was necessary for the
scripture to be fulfilled. His work was finished. He birthed a nation.
And what were the Apostles doing? What is the whole book of Acts about? Here
are people, forming a Holy Nation, proclaiming Christ's Kingdom.
Acts 2:36 says: "Therefore let all the house of Israel know for a surety,
that God hath made the same Jesus whom ye have crucified Lord and Christ."
He's our KING. He's our Lord! For all who believe, we live in the Kingdom of
Heaven now. Jesus is that Stone that the builders rejected. Now that Stone is
the head of the cornerstone. "Neither is there salvation in any other. Nor yet
also is there any other name given to men wherein we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
Since we have received a government that is everlasting and cannot be broken,
then let us repent and be baptized and enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The apostles
entered the Kingdom of Heaven in its infancy. Now let us enter the Kingdom of
Heaven upon their shoulders.
